Gear-shift lever



Sept. 8, l 925.

O. A. ANDERSON GEAR SHIFT' LEVER 2 Sheets-shan 1 Original Filed Aug. 8, 1921 Z 4 fr 31mm ntoz Sept. 8, l 925.

O. A. AN DERSON GEAR ASHIFT LEVER lPatented sept. s, 1925'. l

UNITED STATES4 oLAr A. ANDERSON. or HAMILTON, omo.

' oma-suur LEVER.

lApplication led August 8, 1921, Serial No. 00,580.` Renewed .Tune 11, 192,5.

' To all 'whom it m53/ concern.:

Be it known that-I, OLAF A. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hamilton, county of Butler, State of Ohio, have invented 'certain new and useful Improvements in Gear-Shift Levers, of which the following is a specification. l

This invention relates to gear-shift levers and more particularly to levers embodying a locking device for'rendering it inoperative to Shift the gears of a motor vehicle.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a lever of relatively sim le construction which can be economical y manufactured, which will be interchangeable with non-locking gear-shift levers now in use. on ymotor vehcleshand' which will render the vehicle practically thief-proof. Another object of the invention is to provide a locking gear-Shift lever which may 'be controlled by a key adapted to be inserted in a lock at the top .ofthe lever and which will be entirely housed vwithin the usual knob at the top of the lever when the latter is operative. A further object is to provide pa" lookin device for 'the purpose Specified which will include means for automaticall v` ejecting the key when the lever is lockerl A.: further object of the inventionis to provide a locking gear-shift lever adapted to be locked in'any position, i.l e., with the gears in neutral or in one o f the driving positions.

Other objectsv of the invention and the features of novelty will be ap arent from the description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, of-whichr` Figure 1 is a longitudinal section thru the knob at the top of a'lever'embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a similar view taken at' rlght angles to Fig. 1, and showing the relation of the parts when the deviceis unlocked; Fi 3 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2 but 1showmg'the .parts in the locked position;

Fig. 4 vis a longitudinal section of the lower part of a gear-'shift lever embodying Emy invention, the lever being shown in its relation to the transmission gear housing and one of the gear-shifting rods, the parts .l of the lever being, in thiscase, shown` in their locked relation; 1

Flg. 4:5

Eig. 5 is a transversesection on the line' Fig. 6 isa view similar to Fig. 4 but at Aright angles to the latter;

Fig. 7 is a Side elevation of the lever shown 1n Fig. 4 with certain parts shown in sectlon. and the lever in the unlocked conditlon' i Fig. 8 is a fragment'of'Fig. 4, on a refduced scale, with the parts shown in a difl tions on the lines 11--11, 12--12 and -1313 of Fig. 10.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates the transmission' gear housing and 11 a` cap adapted to be positionedlover the usual upward extension of the housing in which the gear-shift lever is seated, the -cap 11 being vpreferably pinned to the housing in order to prevent removal ofthe lever. The lever proper comprises the upper or handle section 12 having a ball 13 adjacent its `lower end which'v is seated in the spherical socket l 13 in the housing 10.in the usual manner.y The lower end of the section 12 is bifurcated yto receive a tongue 14 on the lower section 15 of the lever which is pivotally connected with the upper section by the pivotpin 16 and has its lower end'in lcoo erative relation with the usual gear-shi ing member 17. From Fig. 7 it will be observed that the lower end of the lever Section 12 isof rectangularcross-section adjacent the pivot pin 16 and is exteriorly of cylindrical form at the extremelower .end as indicated at 17.

The lever section 15 has -a cylindrical 'portion 18 preferably o f the same diameter` as the exterior of the member 17 of the upper lever section, and a sleeve 19 is Slidably arranged on the parts17 and 18. From Figures 4 and 7 it will be apparent that the Sleeve 1,9 isqadaptedkwhen' inthe position shown in Fig. 7, to rigidly connect 'the lever sections 12 and 15 together so -as to lprevent relative swinging movement there on the pivot 16, and when the sleeve 19 is in the position shown in Fig. 4 the lever sections are adaptedA for relative swinging movement so that the upper Section 12 may be freely lmoved back and forth without the sleeve'19 is in the posit.ilm shown in Figetween Amoving the gear-shifting member 17. When ure7 the movement of the upper section 12 of the lever will actuate the member 17 in the usual manner and eifect shifting ofthe gears.v

Inl order to drive a vehicle, thatis provided with the usualsli-din'g gear transmistral position no power can be transmitted from-the motor to the wheels of the vehicle. It, therefore, follows that if, in the present case, the sleeve 19 is in the position illustrated in Fig. 4, when the lever is in neutral position and the gears are out of mesh,

I r the transmission may be said to be locked because movement of the upper or handle section 12 of the lever will not move the member 17 and will, therefore, not effect the` meshing of any of the gears. Likewise if the member 17 has lbeen shifted to bring 'any' particular pair of gearsinto mesh for driving the vehicle forward or backward and vthe' sleeve 19 is then moved to the position shown vin Fig. 4, the transmission-maybe said to belocked because it is impossible to shift the gears with thel handle section 12 ofthe lever. This arrangement, therefore, enables the locking of vthe transmission gears either in neutral, in one ofthe forward speeds yor in the reverse position 'and when in the latterposition it'will be impracticable to drive the vehicle in anybut the backward'direction. l

It will be noted that lthe sleeve 19 islocated within the housing 10 and, hence, in an inaccessible position. ,It is, therefore, necessary to provide means for conveniently shifting the'sleeve 19 from one of its positions to the other and lto be able tolock-such i shiftirig means when the sleeve in the cured to it as by the screw threads 24 and. the pin 25, the barrel 26 of a pin lock. The

cylinder 27 of this lock is housed'in val suitable opening in the knob 20.*and preferably secured therein by a` pin 28. Afsleeve 29 of the lever section 12 and has a flange 30 arranged between' the-bottom of the cylinder 27 and a shoulder within the knob-20, -these parts being secured together' against relative rotation-by a pin 31. The lock, consisting of the barrel 26 and the cylinder 27, .thereyknob 20. l,

fore, constitutes a means for securing the knob 20 against rotation. lAcco'rdin to the well-known 'principle of the pin loc how- V ever, when the key 32 is inserted the cylinder 27 maybe rotated relativelyto the barrel 26 and hence the knob 20 will be un' locked and may be rotated relatively to the lever section 12.

Above the cylinder 27, the knob 20 has a i cavity 33 within which adisc 34 is movable longitudinally ofthe lever. This disc is normally pressed upwardly by springs 35 which are housed in short tubesv 36 secured 'L to the underside ofthe disc 34` as willbe cleary seen from Fig. 1. The key 32 has a cylindrical knob 37 and when pressed downwardlyl thru the opening 38 therefore in the top of the knob the disc 34 will be moved it will be understood that so long as therv knob 20 is not turned from the positionit occupies in` Fig. 1, where the key lis inserted, the latter, as` soonI as released, willbe ejected by the disc 34. However, in accord-- ance with the 'well-known principle of' the l pin lock, when the knob 20 ist turned the key will be locked in the position shown in Fig-I uresl and 2 and. will not again'be released until the knob is.returned to the original j position where the key` was inserted. It will alsobe observed that the knob 37, .in Figs. 1.v fand. 2 is housed 'entirely within the 'f The sleeve 29 provided withfspiralslots 40 and 41`with whichthe en ds of a pin 42 cooperate, thisA pin traversin longitudinal slots 43 in the upper end. o the tubular lever member 12, and being carried by a block 44 which isslidablel in the member 12- and is rigidly connected with the Aupper-.end

of a Wire or rod 45, which extends down-,ly

wardly thru the member 12 and has its low er end connected witha'plunger 46-in'the The lower'end of. :the plunger.

46 has a perforation 47thru which a bail or handle 48 extends, the ends ofthis bail being attached to the sleeve 19 as indicated at the points 49. A lspring 50 has` its. upper y end abutting a-suitable shoulder 51 inthe nism or, in other, words, to rigidly connect the lever sections 12 and 15 together, the

l device is as-lfollovjrsii 4 n `When 1t-"is desired toY unlock the mecha- Within `the knob 20, surroundsthe upper end key 32 is inserted inthe lbarrel 26 and the knob 20 rotated.l This rotation of the knob l l liftsthep'lunger -46 against the tension o'f thefsprmg 50 on account of the ends of the pin 42 travellingin theI spiral slotsj40 and `key will be retained in the knob while the vehicle is being driven. When itis desired to lock the mechanism the knob will be rotated from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 back toI the position illustrated in Fig. 3' and when it reaches the latter position the key will be automatically ejected. .In thus rotating the knob the sleeve 19 will be lowered to the position illustrated in Fig. 4 and the lever section 12 may be freely moved relatively to the section 15 and without actuating the member 17.

It is desirable to have the lever sections 12 and 15 maintained in their normal relation, even when the mechanism is locked so that when it is desired to unlock theL mechanism it will not be necessary toshift the lever section 12 to bring theminto alignment and for this purpose I have provided a groove 52 in the upper end o'f the tongue 14.. The lower end of the plunger 46 is rounded to fit into the groove 52 as clearly shown in Fig. 4 so that the pressure of the spring 50 normally tends to hold the lever sections 12 and 15 in alignment. If, 'however, when the mechanism is locked, the section 12 is shifted the plunger 46 Awill leave the groove 52 as illustrated in Fig. 8 and when the parts are restored to a position of alignment the snapping of the plunger 46 back into the groove 52 will indicate to the operator 'that the lever sections are'again in condition of alignment.

Referring to Figs. 9v to 13, it will be noted that the lever comprises the handle section 55 and gear shifting section 56 vwhich are pivoted together at 57. Below the ball 58 'the section 55 has a flat extension 59 which is arranged in the bifurcated upper end of the section 56. The extension 59 has a longitudinal bore 60 in its lower 'end in which a plunger 61 slides to andfrom engagement with a socket 62 in the section 56, as cle-arly shown-in Fig. 10. When the plunger 61 is in the position shown in Fig. 10 the sections 55 and 56 are locked together and move as a unit but when the plunger 61 is lifted out of the socket 62 the section 55 will be free to swing with reference to the section 56, the parts pivoting about the pin 57. l

It will be observed that the upper ends 6?) of the sides of the section 56 are substantially flat and engage with a collar 64 thru which the extensionA 59 projectssso `as to be slidable thereon. 'The collar 64 carries two plungers 65 which enter pockets 66 vin the ball 58. Springs 67 press upon the upper ends ofthe. plungers 65 and force the collar 64 against the ends 63 so as to yieldingly hold the lever sections 55 and 56 in alignment even though the plunger 61 is out of the socket 62. On account of this arrangement 'the handle section 55 may be freely moved without shifting the gears, when the plunger 61 is out of the socket 62, but when the handle section 55 is released the lever sections tend to automatically align themselves. A wire or rod 68 is connected with the upper end of the plunger 61 and extends upwardly thru the handle section to a slidable block such as the block 44 shown in Fig. 2 so that the plunger 61 may be raised and lowered by rotating the knob 69, as previously described. A co-llar 70 is arranged on` the rod 68 and between this collar and the shoulder 71, in the handle section 55 is a Y springv 7 2, the function of which isto force the plunger 61 into'the-socket 62'.

At 7 3 I have indicated a portion of the transmission gearing housing. but have omitted other parts associated with the lever mechanism as they form no part of the present invention.

While I have illustrated and described what I now consider to be the preferred form of my invention it is understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of theJ invention as defined in the appended claims. v

Having what I claim is:

1 In a device of the class described, the combination of a lever comprising two sections hinged tovether, asleeve slidable on one of said sections into engagement ywith thus described qmy invention lolo the' other section to preventgrelative-movement between the sections, and means mov- Y able longitudinally Within one of said sections and operatively connected with said sleeve to actuate same. y

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a lever comprising two sections hinged together, a sleeve Vslidable on one of said sections into engagement with the other section to prevent relative movement between the sections, and means movablelongitudinally within said other sections and operatively connected with said' sleeve to actuate same. I

3. In a'device of the class described, the combination of a levercomprising two sections hinged together, a sleeve, slidable on one of .said sections intoengagement with the other sections to prevent relative movementbetween thesections, means movable izo longitudinally within one of 'said sections andoperatively connected with said sleeveto actuate same, and a rotatable knob for actuating said means.

4,`In.a device of the class described, the combination of a lever comprising two sections hinged together, a sleeveslidable on one of said sections. into engagement withy 13 0l I I the lothersection' to prevent relative move-y .ment'between the sections, means movable longitudinally'within said other section .and

operatively connected with said sleeve to actuvate samegand a rotatable knoblon saidother section for tuating said means.

. theothersection'sto prevent relative move' 5.v Iny a device o the class described, the

` vv d combination of a' lever .comprising ,tE/fo.

tions hinged together, a sleeve slidable on one of said sections into engagement with ment between the sections, -`means movable longitudinally ywithin one of said sections andl operatively connected with said sleeve to actuate same, a rotatable knob for actuating said means', and a lock'for securing said knob 'against rotation.

6. In a`device of the class described, the" combination of a lever comprising two sec'y tions hinged together, a sleeveslidable on one of saidl sections into engagement with the otherfsection toprevent relative movement between the sections, means movable Ilongitudinally within said other section and 25 i `tuate same, a vrotatable knob on said Vother operatively/ connected with said sleeve to acsection for actuating'said means, and lock p, for securing said knob against rotation.

f 7. `In a device of the classl described, the combination of a lever comprising a handle v section, having a spherical. portion by which it is mounted for swinging movement, and a .gear-'shifting section having a hinge connecy polntl y spaced from the point about which the han' dle .section.swings, a member movable longir' tudinally of oneof said sections and adapttion with said handle section at a Y ed to rigidly connect said sections together ond-'mentioned member.

' longitudinally for unitary movement, a member movable longitudinally within said handle section to actuate the first-mentioned member, and lock-controlled means for actuatingthe sec- 8. In a device ofthe class described, the combination of a lever comprising a handle section mounted for swinging movement and a gear-shifting section pivotally connected with s aid handle section, a member movable of one of'said sections and adapted to rigidly connect said sections together for unitary movement, a member movable longitudinally withinv said handle section to actuate the first-mentioned memond-mentioned member.

ber, and a rotatable lock-controlledlm'ob on said handle section for actuating the sec- '9. In a Adevice of the classv described, the' i combination of a lever comprising ahandle 60. section mounted forswinging movement and l a gear-shifting section .pivotally connected withsaid handle section, a sleeve slidable .f longitudinally on said gear-shifting section `and adapted to rigidly connect said sections together for unitary movement,.mean s movable within handle v,section to :actiate `said sleeve, and a lock-controlled knob on said handle section for actuating said means.

10. Inmechanism of the class described, .the combination of a housing, a lever mounted thereon to project partly within the housing andcomprising aI handle section having pivoted thereto within said housing a gearshifting section, movable means carried by said lever within said housing 'adapted to rigidlyv connect said sections together for unitary movement, means within said handle section for actuating the' vfirst-mentioned means, and a lock-controlled knob movable on said handle section for actuating the `second-mentioned means.`

' 11. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a housing, a lever mountedv thereon to lproject' partly withinV they housing and compnsing a handle section having pivoted thereto within said housing a gear-shifting section, movable means carried by. saidA lever within said housing adapted to rigidly connect-said sections together for unitary-movement, means movable longitudinally within said handle section for' actuating the first-mentioned means, and a lock-controlled rotatable knob on said handle y section for actuating thesecond-mentioned means.

12 In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a housing, a lever mounted thereon to project partly Within the housing-and comprlsing a handle section having pivoted thereto within said housing a gearshiftingsection, movable means carried by said lever within said housingadapted to rigidly `connect said sections together fforunitary movement, means within said handle section for actuating 'thel first-mentioned means, a lock-controlled knob movable onl said handle section forv actuating the secondmentioned means, and means for yieldingly retaining said leversections in their normal relation when said first-mentioned means is.

means, al lock-control ed knob movable Aon said handle section fora'ctuating the secondmentioned means, and cooperating means onv said second means and said gear-shifting vsection for yieldingly retaining said lever sections in their normal relation when said.

first-'mentioned means is inoperative.

. 14:. In ladevice of the class described, -the combination of a lever comprising Atwo sections one of which has a bifurcated end and the other of which has an extension arranged in said biurcated end and pivoted thereto, a member carried by one of said sections and movable toand from a position to radially connect said sections together, one of said sections having a spherical portion whereby the lever may be mounted for universal movement, and spring pressed meansr in said spherical portion cooperating With said bifurcated end to retain said sections in their normal relationwhen said member is in position to permit relative movement on said pivotal connection.

15. In a device of the class described, the combination of a lever comprising a handle section mounted for swinging movement, a gear shifting section having a bifurcated end which is pivoted to said handle section, a member slidable in said handle section and' adapted to be L)rejected from the end thereof into engagement with said gear shifting sectionto lock said sections together, a rotatable knob at the upper end of said handle section, and means operatively connecting said knob with said member to move the latter into and out ofengagement with said gear shifting section. V

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OLAF A. ANDERSON. 

